A chasm has formed between Holocaust scholars concerning Israel/Palestine, deepening immeasurably since 7 October 2023. Unlike previous controversies in the field, the divide is not just historical or methodological; it revolves around academics’ role in the world today, particularly the public stand they choose to take on Palestine/Israel and Zionism. Two main camps have formed. Put reductively, one camp defends Israel, while the other defends Palestinians, although differences between individual scholars within each camp make for more of a spectrum than a clear-cut divide. How, despite a diversity of ideas and foci within each camp, did two academic-political antipodes solidify over several decades, and how have 7 October and the ensuing war widened the rift between them?
A chasm has formed between Holocaust scholars concerning Israel/Palestine, deepening immeasurably since 7 October 2023. Unlike previous controversies in the field, the divide is not just historical or methodological; it revolves around academics’ role in the world today, particularly the public stand they choose to take on Palestine/Israel and Zionism. Two main camps have formed. Put reductively, one camp defends Israel, while the other defends Palestinians, although differences between individual scholars within each camp make for more of a spectrum than a clear-cut divide. How, despite a diversity of ideas and foci within each camp, did two academic-political antipodes solidify over several decades, and how have 7 October and the ensuing war widened the rift between them?
At one end of the spectrum are scholars who have defended Israeli policies. Their approach often rests on an understanding of the Holocaust as an exceptional event, which makes Israel an exceptional case by extension. In their interpretation, attacks on Israel constitute the latest trend in antisemitism. Since 7 October, they have taken a public stand justifying Israel’s military offensive against Gazans. On the other side of the spectrum are scholars who have critiqued Israeli policies and practices harming millions of Palestinians. For many of these scholars, their stand on Israel relates to a perception of the Holocaust as a case of genocide among other genocides, and a concurrent view that Israel, far from being exceptional, developed within a settler colonial framework. Since 7 October, these individuals have harnessed their expertise on racism and state violence to protest Israel’s assault on Gaza. The months since 7 October have hardened the divide, both in volume, with scholars speaking out on events in the Middle East more than ever before, and in substance, as they offer commentary on genocide, war crimes, antisemitism, and Zionism. This article focuses on scholars in the United States and Israel. How Holocaust scholars in Europe approach Palestine/Israel, is a question for future researchers.
Why does it matter what Holocaust scholars say about Israel/Palestine, one might ask? With the allegation of war crimes and genocide on the table, many are keen to know what Holocaust scholars think. Their opinion, as people who have devoted their careers to study war crimes and genocide, gives moral and academic gravitas to the question of how to classify what is happening in Israel/Palestine. Holocaust scholars are sought after by the media for op-eds and interviews, as the many examples below attest. They command authority, especially among Jews; Jews care deeply about the Holocaust, so they care about what Holocaust scholars have to say. As Hasia Diner has pointed out, “few issues loom as large or carry as much valence in the performance of Jewish identity as the Holocaust.” Jews’ approach to their catastrophe has reached the point of “sanctifying the Holocaust,” as Adi Ophir described. “A central altar has arisen, forms of pilgrimage are taking hold, and already a thin layer of Holocaust-priests, keepers of the flame, is growing and institutionalizing,” he wrote, a statement that rings as true today as it did forty years ago. In the post-7 October world, the voice of Holocaust scholars counts even more, considering the panic among many Jews that “it’s starting to feel like the 1930s again.” Holocaust scholars, as experts on violence towards Jews, therefore have a megaphone on all matters Jewish. How they choose to use it is the question at hand.
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